This face brings a flood of memories. It’s so deeply imprinted in my memory from my childhood, it might as well be my mother’s face. And its sound is just as deeply imprinted too. The Steyr 380 was the truck of postwar Austria, which explains why this one is being used as a sightseeing bus in Vienna. It’s a national icon, and everyone above a certain age recognizes it. Mama!!

I hadn’t been back to Austria since 1969 when Stephanie and I went back in 1980. And the very first morning in Innsbruck, I woke up at the crack of dawn and I slipped out for a walk around town, and was very happy to see an old Steyr 380 Post delivery truck still at work; the equivalent of our UPS trucks. Now that made me feel like nothing had changed.

Its origins go back to the war, when Steyr developed and built the 1500, a light truck that was built in a variety of configurations and sizes. It was very advanced technically, with a torsion bar independent front suspension and all wheel drive. That was decades ahead of just about everybody else was doing. Got to have a smooth ride on the way to Russia! It was powered by an also advanced hemi-head 3.5 L air-cooled V8.

One of the variants was a Kommandowagen, with a proper top even. The Steyrs were highly regarded, and production was also undertaken in Germany to augment that from the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant in Steyr, Austria.

After the war, Steyr developed a new tough and practical truck, from the ground up, even if it did use the familiar hood. The first version, the 370, arrived in 1947 using the 1500’s air-cooled gasoline V8. But that was just a temporary stop-gap. In 1948, the definitive 480 was ready, with an ultra-durable and efficient 5.3 L four cylinder diesel engine, making 85-90 hp. It was a noisy, slow-running affair, kind of like a tractor engine. Which in fact it essentially was.

As in a four cylinder version of the two-cylinder engine used in the also-legendary Steyr 180 tractor, another iconic face from my childhood. Its 2.6 L twin hammered out 26 hp @1500 rpm. There was also a smaller one cylinder tractor, and later larger four-cylinder versions. The Steyr engine was a modular design. And somewhat surprisingly, Steyr designed and built its own injection pumps.

Although the Steyr’s prime market was domestic, where it served in a wide range of duties, some were exported, like this one in the Netherlands. Oddly, Nigeria later became the prime export market for Steyr trucks, and the 380’s successors were built locally there for decades.

The 380 was used as fire engines, delivery vans, dump trucks, logging trucks, and just about every other possible use for its exceptionally tough frame and chassis that was rated nominally at 4 (metric) tons, but was commonly overloaded by 50% or more.

The 380 was eagerly adopted as the new post-war Post bus, which served every town and village, no matter how remote, with the daily mail and of course passengers too. Some of them had to be kept on for years after more modern buses replaced them on most routes, because they were small enough to get through certain tunnels and hairpin curves the bigger buses just couldn’t negotiate.

In the summer, the big canvas roof was rolled back, and the views of the Alps was splendid, even if it did go by slowly. They could negotiate the steepest and most challenging Alpine roads, but at their own leisurely pace. And they had a lovely multi-tone horn taht was sounded at every blind ahir-pin curve. Their lyrical ta-ta-ta-taa could be heard resonating off the valley walls.

Some have been preserved and are used for special nostalgia outings. Sign me up.

Here’s a 380 being taken down the Maloja Pass. It gives you an idea of what these truck and buses did for a living on a daily basis. Unfortunately, it’s just the downhill; I would have rather heard the Steyr diesel under full load working its way up than hearing its engine brake on the way down.

Of course Steyr-Puch’s well-know expertise with all wheel drive was not wasted on the380 and its successors.

In 1957, the model 480 arrived, with faired-in headlights and a taller cab with bigger windows. But still the same throbbing diesel four. Also, a model 580 with 6 ton capacity joined the party that year. Loads were getting bigger and heavier.

And in 1961, the hoary old four was supplanted by a brand new six cylinder diesel, which now churned out 120 hp (!) at a racy 2800 rpm. The Steyr engine at least had moved into the modern era. And by 1969, production was over, at least in Austria. In Nigeria, the 480 continued on for some time yet.

But in addition to this sightseeing bus, I understand that there are still a few working 380 and 480 trucks to be found in the more remote little towns and valleys of Austria. It just can’t be readily replaced for cheap and rugged hauling. Next time I go back, I’ll have to find one, or at least ride this sightseeing bus, to feel the vibrations of that big throbbing four once again.

Maybe I should have not asked, now I think I have to explain it. Literally translated it means: ” He left a suitcase standing behind!” Innocent enough. But the suitcase is a metaphor for a silently expelled cloud of methane from which the creator moved away as if leaving a suitcase behind.

Those Nigerian Steyrs still work, see below (pic by Eyal Ben Haim). You may be right about old grain trucks being exercised from time to time but (other than the bus, which I believe is an old ex-Vienna police Mannschaftswagen) those I encountered do far were restored and enjoying retirement…

Last but not least, the gasoline V8 was very advanced with hemi heads and hence used for racing in both Austria and the UK, in fact Sidney Allard (that Allard, yes) won a British hill-climb championship with a Steyr-Allard.

My bad. I was in a bit of a hurry, and when I read that it had ifs, I made the wrong assumption. That was unusual for the times, but then engineering was very advanced in that circle of companies and such.

Thanks for the correction, as well as stimulating me in the first place.

I suppose I am already? I have a few more pics which I will be uploading from time to time but I don’t want to flood the Cohort with what may seem to the vast majority of the readers as esoteric Central European machinery…

Looks like the bus that Maria rode in ,in the ” Sound of Music ” movie. When we lived in Turkey, Austria was one of my dad’s favorite vacation destinations. We spent a couple winter vacations skiing in Kitzbuel. My father, who is a classical music fan , was interested in seeing Salzburg, where Mozart lived. I remember seeing buses like this.

According to imcdb.org, it is a 380 bus. The 380 not having existed in 1939, that’s just a bit of an anachronism!

That site also points out that in the background of one scene was a 1951 Opel Kapitan. So I guess they weren’t all that concerned with accuracy! At least the Mercedes, Horch, and Citroen were period appropriate.

Well, I’m not 100% sure, but there are two kinds of diesel engine brakes, and it appears that the Steyr may have both.

The handle on the floor most likely works an exhaust brake, given its location. It’s like a valve on the exhaust to restrict it, which creates a braking effect (diesel engines normally have no engine braking effect). You can hear the change in sound every time he pulls it.

That handle on the dash may be a compression release brake, or ‘jake brake’, which opens the exhaust valves briefly at the top of the compression stroke, also creating engine braking. But I can’t say with certainty, as I’m not familiar with that level of detail on these trucks. But clearly, they both seem to be related to helping slow down the truck.

It’s a mechanical exhaust brake (you can hear it when he pools the lever); more modern versions had an electrically operated one. The dashboard switch is for the indicators, there were a few roadworks he had to avoid.

Edited to add: Paul beat me on this one, but as for the switch, I doubt it’s anything like a an electrical retarder – those came later (and if he’d have retro-fitted one, I doubt he’d have bothered with the exhaust brake – retarders are far more efficient…).

That thing has excellent exhaust brakes yes that what the floor lever is I notice he doesnt use the service brake at all except for when he had to stop switch on the dash is indicators as he signals following traffic that he is crossing lanes, nice bit of road those sorts of turns are why we cant pull 3 trailers here you cant get round the turns in one lane. I’d go to Austria just to ride that bus.

“Few people are aware that the Steyr design department received the work order for the beautiful 180 tractor by phone. A dyslexic custodian was walking by after hours and picked up the call. He left a note on which he transposed the order of the numerals in the model number from “180” to “810”. A lovely prototype was built (nicknamed “Sarg Nase”), but production plans came to nothing. The original Steyr 810 resides in the Veränderte Universum Industriemuseum in the tiny town of Viertendimension, Austria.”

I also just noticed now in gazing a second time at this splendid 810 that it has….independent front suspension. On a tractor. Is this a first? I’m not aware of any other.

And FWIW, the Cord 810’s independent front suspension was by leaf springs too, but by longitudinal quarter elliptics. For a minute there I thought maybe these two shared the same suspension design. Close….

I didn’t change the front suspension from the 180. Except for use of two sets of springs, it’s a similar IFS to that on my ’65 Cinquecento. I think I should see if I have a picture in my file of the FWD prototype(!)

BTW might be wise for me to admit this as a parody, so somebody down the road (so to speak) doesn’t repeat it, and end up getting CC on Snopes…

Digging once again through volumes of prototype photos in my lock box yielded what I had originally catalogued as a Cord FWD farm tractor prototype. I now realize, thanks to CC, that it was actually another, second version of the Steyr “810”. Along with the photo was a handwritten note to which I had never paid attention, as I don’t speak or read German.

Thank goodness for Google translate!

“The 1946 Steyr 810 prototypes are of two versions. The beginning model drew from Cord practices in having frontwheeldrive. In the field, the large, heavy wheels necessary to put power to the ground were difficult to see around, and resulted in much soilcompaction. Additionally, turning was very difficult, as there was not assistedsteeringregulation. The small wheels at rear dug furrows, especially when the test farmer was of formidable Bavarian stock, in excess of 110 kilos. The spewing of fertilizer from the driven wheels was the cause of consternation, as it would result in muddy leatherstockings, which could not be tolerated. Therefore, large fenders have been installed, adding to weight and further lessening forwardview. This prototype is not a success.”

Steyr was a proud member of the Elite Troops of AWD-truck manufacturers. Mostly seen as 6×6 dump trucks. Excellent quality from front bumper to tail lights, durable, heavy-duty, and above all: superb off-road capabilities.

Other members were: Tatra from the Czech Republic, Saurer from Switzerland and Mercedes-Benz (L-series !), MAN, Magirus-Deutz and Hanomag-Henschel from Germany.

Here’s such a Steyr 6×6 (type 26 S 31) as I remember them from my younger years. Lots of these are still used daily. It has the typical pointy cab that Steyr used for a very long time. (Photo: C.A.B. Trucks Weert)

From the same era, a Steyr 4×2 long distance tractor with a sleeper cab and a raised roof. High-quality trucks, but Steyr was too small to survive as an independent truck manufacturer in our modern times and was taken over by MAN.

As a teenager hitchhiking in Europe over the Christmas holidays in 1967, I remember taking a large and virtually empty Postbus from the little Austrian village of Muhlbach up a switchback forest road to a (crazily inexpensive) family-run ski hotel on a mountain called Hochkoenig.

I also remember that the post-New Year’s holiday hotel rate was $3 a day – accommodation, food, and skiing included! This was when the Austrian Schilling was still 25 to the dollar – ten years later it was about 12 to the dollar, and general economic progress and inflation meant that the postwar glory days (for North Americans) of ‘Europe On $5 A Day’ were sadly over :).